


Old Habits, New Year

by TheRighteousMan (FullmetalFlameElric)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff and Angst, Injury, New Year's Eve, New Years
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-01
Updated: 2014-01-01
Packaged: 2018-01-07 00:51:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1113537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FullmetalFlameElric/pseuds/TheRighteousMan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While the rest of the pack is enjoying the holiday with their significant others, Derek is away from his mate.</p>
<p>It's New Year's Eve and Stiles is home alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Old Habits, New Year

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah... it's almost 5 am here on Jan 1st... so... yeah. Enjoy.
> 
> Happy New Year, guys!

Stiles was miserable. That was the best way to put it. Sprawled out on the couch, casted foot resting on the far arm of the leather monstrosity Derek had insisted on buying. His entire shoulder was wrapped in tight bandaging, previously dislocated shoulder and cracked collarbone being held in place while they healed with minimal movement. His ribs were wrapped as well, bruised mostly, fractured in a few places. He’d been laying like that since noon and it was currently 10 pm on December 31st. He wasn’t going to be moving anytime soon.

His life sucked.

“How’re you feeling?” Lydia’s voice echoed softly in the quiet room. Stiles looked to the screen of his computer where Lydia’s image was displayed on screen. He was far from amused.

“Well, considering I’ve been laying in the same position since migrating to the couch earlier today, it’s Minnesota in negative degree weather, and I’m home alone on New Years? Peachy.” He grumbled.

Lydia tutted sympathetically before shifting in her seat. “Sure you don’t need anything? I can send Aiden over to pick you up and bring you here…”

“I’m good. Besides, I wouldn’t want to ruin your New Years kiss.” Stiles sighed, dropping his head back against the arm of the couch and closing his eyes. “I’m done being the third wheel anyway.”

“Come on, Stiles. I’m sure Derek will find someway to spend New Years Eve with you.”

“Just like he tried and got stuck every other year?” Stiles grumbled, looking at the camera once more. “I mean, I get it. Someone has to go to the end of the year pack conference. But why does it always have to be Derek? Is it so hard for someone else to volunteer for once?” He added the last part as barely a whisper, more to himself than to Lydia.

Lydia frowned a bit, glancing further into the apartment she and her boyfriend shared. Sighing, she looked back to the screen. “... Have you talked to Derek about this?”

Stiles bit his lower lip before shaking his head. “No… I keep hoping that someone will just realize, hey, Derek hasn’t even been home for New Years. How about I go instead and let him enjoy it with his mate for once?” He shifted a bit and hissed in pain, tears welling up in his eyes. He’d insist to his grave they were caused by the pain from his currently broken body. “Fuckin witches and their gargoyles…”

“You know, you don’t always have to be the bait..” she sighed, looking him over and assessing his pain. Stiles just snorted. She shook her head and turned back to the previous conversation. “I thought you were going to talk to Scott about this.”

“I was. And then I over heard he and Isaac making reservations for New Years and… I just… couldn’t.” Stiles muttered, dropping his gaze.

“I would have talked to Scott if I’d known you weren’t going to. I guess everyone just expects you to be the one that’s alone with Derek going every year since you’ve never said anything against it… Even when you’re barely able to get up on your own…. Is anyone over there with you now?” She asked, concerned now.

“Like who? Everyone’s either having a relaxing evening or screwing like rabbits.” Stiles muttered and even he had to admit it came out bitter sounding.

Lydia’s gaze softened, green eyes really taking a moment to look him over, or what she could see. “...Have you eaten since lunch?”

“I can’t reach the controls on the stove to cook, Lydia. How am I supposed to make myself something to eat if I can’t lift my arms enough to even reach the plates?” Stiles mumbled, managing to pull a scowl resembling that of his very own Sourwolf. 

“That’s it. I’m sending Aiden over to get you.”

Stiles scoffed. “No.” He deadpanned.

“Excuse me?” Lydia asked, lifting a brow and fixing him with an unamused look.

“No. Do you need it in Spanish? Noh.”

“Uh-huh. Right.” Lydia hummed.

“Spanish not right? Let’s try Russian. Nyet.”

“Stiles.”

German then? Nein.”

“You’re not funny.”

“Or maybe Swahili? Hakuna.”

“Matata. Now shut it. Aiden is going over there to at least make you something to eat and make sure you take your medication.” Lydia stated with her no bullshit tone. Stiles paused and frowned.

“Lydia I don’t-”

“Stiles. You can’t take care of yourself. You can’t even get up to take your medication. I’m sending him over there-”

“No, Lydia.” Stiles growled, wincing slightly at the force behind it as his ribs were jostled. He shifted to try and relieve the ache and fixed a glare on her. “No. I just… enjoy the new years with Aiden… ok? Just… I can’t see Derek. Ok, fine. That doesn’t mean both of us need to be alone….”

Lydia pursed her lips and stayed silent for a long moment before sighing. “Fine… look. I have to go make a phone call. Give me like… twenty minutes and I’ll call you back?”

Slowly, Stiles nodded. “Kay… I’ll be here… not like I can go anywhere…”

“I’ll be back soon.” Lydia promised again, hanging up. 

 

“I swear to god, Derek Hale, if you don’t answer your fucking phone I’m going to-”

“Hello?”

“Derek! Hi!” Lydia greeted cheerfully. “Look, are you busy right now?”

There was a beat of silence before the rustle of Derek moving and a door shutting. “I was in a meeting. Why? Is something wrong? Did something happen with Stiles? Is he ok? Why are you calling and not Scott?”

“What? Why would Scott call?” Lydia asked confused. As far as she knew, Stiles was keeping Derek updated through nightly phone calls.

“Uh.. he’s supposed to be checking in on Stiles regularly for me… since I couldn’t stay home…” Derek muttered, sounding mildly confused now. 

It was as if someone had suddenly set Lydia’s blood boiling. “He’s supposed to be what?” She asked flatly.

“He said he’d check in on Stiles for me… since he bailed on his promise of going to the conference for me…”

….

…

Oh…

“....I’m going to kill him.” She stated, grinning cheerfully as she turned to where Aiden was grudgingly packing. “Look. I’m sending Aiden up to take your place at the conference. I know you can’t leave till he gets there, but… just… hurry home as soon as you can? Stiles kind of needs you and well… obviously no one but me has been worried about him enough back here at home to actually be checking on him.”

“You mean Scott hasn’t checked on him?” Derek growled. She could almost see the red flashing in his eyes.

“Of course not. Why else wouldn’t you have heard anything?”

“I had hopefully assumed that no news was good news when it came to Scott.”

“You would think.” Lydia sighed. “Just… can you get back here? Soon? Stiles really needs you here, Derek. You two haven’t spent a single New Years together since you started dating and I know the pack is always relying on you two to do what we don’t. It’s not fair to you two to have to spend every New Years evening away from one another.”

Sighing, Derek shifted a bit, the leather of his jacket creaking with each move. “Even if I left now, I wouldn’t make it back in time for midnight.”

“I know, but at least you wouldn’t have to be away from your mate for another six days…”

“.... I’ll head out soon as I make sure Aiden knows what’s happening…. Thank you, Lydia.”

“Just get home to your mate. I have to call Scott.”

Hanging up, Lydia sighed and pressed the corner of her phone to her forehead for a moment, eyes closed as she settled her anger. She would need all the patience she could scrounge up for this. She pulled back and punched in a number.

“Hello?” was the mildly breathless greeting.

“Scott McCall!” Lydia snapped. There was a strangled yelp on the other side, but she ignored it. “Is there somewhere you’re supposed to be right now?”

“Uh…”

“Let me rephrase that. You should be somewhere.”

“I should?”

Oh she could kill him. “You know… your best friend’s? The one you’re supposed to have been checking up on?”

“Oh shit!”

“Yes. Exactly. Get over there.” Lydia muttered, clearly unimpressed.

“Right. Give me fifteen minutes-”

“No. Now.” Lydia snapped.

“Uh… Lyd I can’t… I’m kinda.. in the middle of something if you know what I-”

“Put your pants on, zip it up, and get over there!”

There was a distressed whine on the other end of the phone. “I can’t! i’m kind of… stuck…”

“Well unstick yourself and get over there!”

There was another rustle of fabric, this one different than that of clothes. It was a stiffer sound, a chuckle sounding after.

“It’s gotta go down first!” Scott whined. “Isaac! Hush! It’s not funny!”

“Well deflate it and go!” Lydia sighed exaggeratedly.

“I can’t!”

“Finstock in a thong!”

…

“Oh… there it goes…. Hush Isaac!”

Lydia rolled her eyes and sighed. She was going to have such a headache after this. “My god. You’re supposed to be the best friend, Scott! How could you forget about him?”

“Well…” she could hear him rustling around for clothes now. “He’s usually ok on his own on New Years.”

“He’s really not. He just pretends he is so we don’t worry about him.” Lydia dead panned. “Now get your ass over there. Derek will be there in about four hours.” With that, she hung up and tossed her phone to the side. She still had to call Stiles back. It was going to be a long night, but someone had to care. She didn’t move to Minnesota with the pack so they could fail the one person that was constantly sacrificing for them. Stiles had left his home. He’d let go of his relationship with his father for the pack and moved them to the northern woods near the Canadian border just to keep them all safe. The fact that he was always giving up what little time he and Derek had to be on their own together, so that everyone else in the pack could be together, it was enough to finally make Lydia put her foot down.

When she called Stiles back on Skype, Scott answered. “Hey… Isaac’s got him. Took him to the bathroom just down the hall.” He greeted, shifting uneasily as he set down a glass of water and a bottle of pills in a prescription bottle.

“Good to see you two got over there quick.” Lydia muttered, relaxing a bit in her chair and sipping on the tea she’d fixed quickly before going to call Stiles back. “How is he?”

“.....Rough shape…” Scott admitted, ducking his head. “...Lydia… has he… been crying a lot?”

“Why do you ask?” Lydia asked, eying the other.

Scott hesitated and looked over his shoulder down the hall slightly. “... Because he pretty much broke down a few minutes ago in front of Isaac.”

“He misses Derek, Scott… they haven’t had a New Years together… ever. Nor do I think they’ve really gotten many holidays together.” Lydia stated softly, looking down at her mug of tea. “I’ll admit I’m not completely innocent… but we have four alpha’s in the pack, Scott. Derek doesn’t always have to be the one to go.”

“Why doesn’t Aiden then?”

“He did today. Besides, he’s not the one promising to go and then backing out of it.” Lydia stated, giving Scott a pointed look. The alpha frowned but ducked his head a bit.

The soft sound of footsteps sounded and Isaac and Stiles returned, the human shuffling awkwardly with his cast and leaning against Isaac as best he could with his injured ribs. He was pale and his face blotchy from crying. He was wearing a newly donned hoodie that he and Isaac had likely taken from Derek’s dresser. Scott internally cringed at the thought of how much it had likely hurt to put it on, but he knew it would smell like Derek.

Scott stood and shifted things around. He helped Isaac shift the human, Stiles dropping onto the couch when his good leg gave out. He gasped and whimpered, stiffening up before slowly relaxing as the pain eased.

“Shit! Are you ok?” Isaac asked, leaning down to look him over. Stiles forced a smile and nodded.

“‘M fine… Just… tired.” He sighed, relaxing once more into his makeshift nest.

Isaac whimpered and brushed his bangs away from his sweaty forehead. “...Do you need anything else before I make something for you to eat?”

“You don’t need to. I’m fine…” Stiles protested softly.

Scott frowned, speaking over Lydia’s starting protests. “You’re eating something.”

 

The house was dark by the time Derek pulled into the driveway. He spotted Isaac’s car in the driveway, knowing that he and Scott had likely stayed to make sure Stiles wasn’t alone. Derek made a mental note to thank Lydia when he got the chance. But seeing as it was already 3 am it would have to wait until later in the day.

He made his way up to the house once he’d locked the truck, silently glad he’d gotten the FJ Cruiser. He’d ended up in the ditch a couple of times and not noticed as he continued on through back to the road. The snowstorm had set in full force and he was glad to be off the road.

A light was on in the kitchen, Scott and Isaac sitting at the table talking quietly. They both paused and looked up when Derek entered. Shaking off the snow from his hair, he nodded to the two.

“Set up in the guest bedroom. Roads are hell right now.” He whispered, knowing they’d hear him. Scott nodded and Isaac tilted his head to the couch.

“Stiles fell asleep there… Good night Derek.”

“Night…” he watched them go before he turned his attention to the couch. There, curled up in blankets and his laptop closed on the table nearby, Stiles was sound asleep. The ache in his chest slowly settled as he looked his mate over. He hated being away from the younger man and every time it got harder to deal with.

He stepped over and pressed a kiss to Stiles’ temple. “Love…. Stiles… gotta wake up for a moment…” Stiles just frowned and groaned, ducking his head more. “Stiles, love… come on… let’s get you into bed…”

“...Derek?” Stiles muttered, lifting his head and blinking awake finally. The alpha smiled and ran his fingers through his mate’s hair.

“Hey, beautiful…”

A slow smile formed and Stiles shifted closer, letting Derek lift him carefully into his arms. “You’re home…. Missed you…”

“Miss you too…”

Stiles just hummed, closing his eyes and resting his head against Derek’s shoulder. The alpha hummed and murmured soft reassurances into his mate’s ear. Reaching their bedroom, he carefully settled Stiles in the bed and tucked him in. He stripped down quickly as well before climbing in beside him and humming. He could feel how tired he was as the tension from being away and the drive home bled out of his system. Closing his eyes, he buried his nose in Stiles’ neck and purred.

“Love you, Sourwolf…”

The wolf smiled against his neck. “Love you too, Stiles…”


End file.
